


Rainbows

by Caora



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 04:50:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8954266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caora/pseuds/Caora
Summary: Evan had never seen a real rainbow before, and in fact, was not entirely sure he knew what a rainbow was. He had heard stories of arcs of colour that stretched across the sky on bright rainy days, vibrant bows that symbolised hope and love, and brought the promise of a new beginning, but he had never witnessed one himself. There were pictures of them in books, and they were painted on nursery walls by hopeless romantics, but images of spectrums were useless to people like him who had never fallen in love and could only see in grayscale.The ability to see in colour was a right reserved for those who had found their soulmate, but Evan had yet to find his, and so the true majesty of rainbows was lost on him. Little did he know, however, that that was all about to change. (Soulmate AU where you only see in black and white until you meet your soulmate)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Melanin_Ink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melanin_Ink/gifts).



Evan had never seen a real rainbow before, and in fact, was not entirely sure he knew what a rainbow was. He had heard stories of arcs of colour that stretched across the sky on bright rainy days, vibrant bows that symbolised hope and love, and brought the promise of a new beginning, but he had never witnessed one himself. There were pictures of them in books, and they were painted on nursery walls by hopeless romantics, but images of spectrums were useless to people like him who had never fallen in love and could only see in grayscale.

The ability to see in colour was a right reserved for those who had found their soulmate, but Evan had yet to find his, and so the true majesty of rainbows was lost on him. To him, a rainbow was merely another gradient of grey among an equally dull world, and was nothing special to be celebrated. It was hard for him to get excited over something that was praised for its colour when he could only see in shades of black and white, but he never let that bother him.

After all, that was just how the universe worked, and there was no point in being disappointed in something that he couldn’t change. People weren’t born with the ability to see in colour; it was something that bled into their world when they met their one true love, their soulmate, the person they were destined to spend the rest of their life with, and when Evan eventually met whoever that was for him, then he’d finally be able to see the array of colours that was praised to the high heavens in rom coms, but not a second sooner.

There was little doubt in his mind that he wouldn’t one day see a rainbow in its true form, but until then, he was content to continue fumbling through his grey life the way he always had. One day he’d have that chance encounter with the person he was destined to be with that would trigger that explosion of colour he had heard so much about, and he’d be able to appreciate rainbows in their true forms. But until then, he’d continue through his monochrome world, waiting and hoping that that person would make themselves known to him soon.

* * *

First contact with his soulmate came in the form of a private message on YouTube, not that he knew that at the time. Evan had stumbled upon a montage that made him laugh while he was searching for other gamers to play with, and so he’d sent this Moo Snuckel a message telling him that he loved his videos, not at all expecting a message in reply, and certainly not expecting to converse with and build up enough of a rapport with him that he’d agree to playing a few rounds of CoD Zombies later while talking over Skype.

Evan wasn’t sure what it was that drew him towards Moo so much, but he found himself craving his attention and his approval in a way that he’d never done with anyone else before. Sometimes it felt as though Moo was the only thing he could think about, and speculation of what he sounded like and what he looked like constantly plagued his thoughts. He really liked him, and he yearned to grow closer to him for reasons he couldn’t comprehend, and now as he sat in front of his monitor, waiting for him to accept his contact request over Skype, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

What if Moo didn’t like him? They’d only spoken in text up until this point; what if he didn’t like his voice or his personality? He wasn’t sure why that thought bothered him so much considering Moo was still practically a stranger and he wouldn’t be losing anything if this didn’t work out. He only knew that it worried him tremendously, and he took a deep breath to calm his unusually quick heartbeat, fingers drumming against the desk in a nervous habit.

The Skype notification signalling that he’d gotten a message was a blessing as he was only growing more nervous the longer he had to wait for him, and as soon as he knew he was ready and available, Evan called him. He didn’t have to wait long for him to answer as Moo picked up on the second ring, and Evan couldn’t help but grin as the sound of his honeyed voice crackled through his headphones.

“Hey Vanoss,” Moo greeted him in a soft, quiet tone that showed he was just as anxious as he was, and the sound of his voice was enough to make his skin tingle and stomach twist in excitement.

“Hey Moo,” he returned, surprising himself with just how soft he sounded, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He had just heard Moo’s adorable voice for the first time, and in that moment, nothing else in the world seemed to matter to him. A meteor could plummet towards the Earth and smash into the ground outside his bedroom window, and Evan would’ve missed it, too wrapped up in Moo’s sweet giggle to take notice of anything else. His chest felt light, and he couldn’t help but laugh along with him, even though they had yet to say anything with substance, but Moo’s giggle was contagious and they were feeling so giddy that it was hard to do anything but.

Or at least, that was the case until Moo’s laughter was suddenly cut off by a sharp gasp.

Evan waited for a moment for him to offer an explanation of what had surprised him so much, except it never came, and instead he was silent. “Uh… Moo? Are you okay?” Evan asked him concerned, worried that something might have happened or that he’d done something to hurt him unknowingly, but Moo still didn’t speak and his concern only grew. “Moo? Are you still there?” He frowned, checking his connection to make sure the call hadn’t dropped, but as far as he could tell, he was still on the line.

“Y-Yeah…” Moo stuttered, his voice shaky, clearly in shock about something or other. “I uh… I just-… I wasn’t expecting-…. oh my god,” he blurted out, his words growing muffled towards the end of his sentence as if he was covering his face with his hands.

“What? What is it? Is something wrong?” Evan frowned, and could feel himself beginning to panic. He knew it was wrong of him to demand an explanation as to what was going on, but Moo seemed so distressed and he hated that he was so startled. Evan felt the strong urge to protect him for reasons he didn’t yet understand, and listening to him hyperventilate like this was only causing his own breathing to shallow as well.

“Do you… do you not see it?” Moo asked, almost sounding heartbroken, and his tone of voice only cracked Evan’s heart too, and he wish he knew what he was talking about and why he was suddenly so hurt so he could fix it and bring that cute giggle back again.

“See what?” Evan asked softly, voice filled with care as he scoured his screen for whatever it was Moo was referring to.

“YouTube. Does it… does it not look different to you?”

As soon as he mentioned it, Evan immediately tabbed out to bring YouTube up, and scanned the home page for something new and different, only to immediately freeze when something bright and vibrant and not grey caught his eye.

He could see colour.

He could see _a_  colour, though he wasn’t sure which one it was. The lettering and backgrounds on some of the thumbnails were now bright and contrasted greatly with the grey that surrounded them, as did the clothes and lipgloss that a few of the vloggers were wearing. He wished he could find _something_  that made which colour he was looking at more obvious, but in the end, decided that it didn’t matter that much in that moment, and the fact he could see it _at all_  was something to marvel.

The fact that he could suddenly see colour could mean only one thing.

Moo was his soulmate.

Moo was the one he was destined to be with - the one the universe had specifically chosen for him. Moo was the one he would one day fall in love with (and if he was truly honest with himself, he could feel himself slipping already), and that was a thought that caught the breath in his throat and roused the sleeping butterflies in his chest.

“Vanoss?” Moo’s voice broke him out of the daze he didn’t know he had fallen into, and he took a deep breath that he didn’t realise he was holding. “Are you still there?”

“I- uh, yeah… I’m still here…” Evan stuttered, suddenly flustered. Even though he and Moo had been friends for a while, he now found himself tongue tied around him. He wasn’t expecting to meet his soulmate here, and he certainly wasn’t expecting them to be someone that he had known for a while. “You… you saw that colour?”

“Yeah,” Brock breathed, chuckling out of sheer relief that he wasn’t the only one seeing colour after all. “I guess… I guess you’re my soulmate, huh?”

Hearing the words out loud only made Evan grin wide, and he felt a warm fuzzy feeling wash over him. Moo’s soulmate. Yeah, he really liked the sound of that.

“Yeah,” he replied softly. “I guess I am.”

* * *

Evan would soon learn that the first colour he could see was pink - a colour he’d forever associate with Moo (whose name he’d even sooner learn was Brock).

Pink was the colour of all things soft and sweet, like the fluffy marshmallows that Brock personified, and the strawberry ice cream they’d have on their first date, and Evan would quickly learn just how fitting of a colour that was for him. Every time he discovered a new pink thing, whether it be sugary bubblegum, or sparkly glitter, he’d be reminded of just how sweet and gentle his boyfriend was.

Brock was the tooth rotting cotton candy eaten between laughs at the fair, and the fragile wings of butterflies in the summer. He was the colour of the fluffy clouds when the sun dipped just below the horizon and painted the sky a deep pink, and the colour of his previously white towels when they came out of the washing machine with a suspicious grey sock (that he suspected wasn’t quite so grey after all).

Brock’s lips and tongue were pink, Evan would discover when he’d pick him up from the airport a month later, as were the fingernails on the hand he’d slip into his. His skin was as soft as rose petals, and his voice as smooth as silk sheets, and his candied words were as mushy as those found on candied hearts, but would always send him reeling no matter how clichéd and overused they were.

It was almost ridiculous how hard and fast he fell in love with him, but Brock was his _soulmate_ , and no one could blame him, not for that, and not for whisking him off to LA to move in with him so they wouldn’t have to be apart.

Everything seemed perfect and was falling into place, everything but the plethora of colours of that rainbow that he still couldn’t see.

Over and over again, it was drilled into them that once they had met their soulmate, their grey worlds would be flushed with colour, but after the initial pink seeping in, the rest never came. Evan was reassured in knowing that he wasn’t alone, and that Brock was traversing through a life filled with nothing but grey and the deep red he had given him, but neither of them could understand why they were so different. They _had_  to be soulmates; there wasn’t a single doubt in their minds that were meant to be together… but if that were true, then why was everything still in mostly black and white?

Sleepless nights and whispered worries inspired extensive research that spanned days on end, and it wasn’t until Brock had approached him with an opened dictionary and a blinding smile that the world started to make sense again.

Polyamorous. They were _polyamorous_. They could only see one colour because they had only met one soulmate, and it wouldn’t be until they met the others they were destined to be with that the rest of the world would be painted in. They didn’t know how many people _exactly_  the universe had paired them with, but that didn’t matter, not to Evan, who was just so relieved that he wasn’t broken that he scooped Brock up into a tight hug and had no plans on ever letting him go.

The universe had gifted them with big hearts that were to be filled with multiple soulmates, and that was something to be celebrated with frosted donuts and strawberry milkshakes with the one soulmate he knew he had, and the one person who could share his enthusiasm in just how lucky they were.

* * *

It wouldn’t be until weeks later and a chance encounter on the street that Evan would see the red that Brock had told him so much about, and he would never see it coming.

Quite literally, as he didn’t spot the dalmatian bounding towards him until it was two feet away and it was too late for him to step aside. The dog leaped at his chest with such force that he was knocked down onto the pavement, landing on his back, and he was so winded and dazed that he barely remembered to grab a hold of the leash before it scampered off even farther away from its owner. Brock was kneeling down next to him and fussing over him the second he was downed, poking and prodding him to make sure he wasn’t hurt, while Evan absentmindedly petted the pup that was sniffing him curiously.

“Holy fuck, are you okay?!” came a strange voice from somewhere above him, and the man who Evan presumed was the owner came jogging towards them, out of breath but relieved to see his dog in one piece. He picked the puppy up off of Evan’s chest and cradled him in his arms, before gently chastising him from running off in a soft baby voice that Evan suspected he wasn’t supposed to hear.

“I’m fine, it just surprised me,” Evan chuckled, allowing Brock to help tug him back up onto his feet. He shot him a grateful smile and intertwined their fingers once again, and when he turned back to the stranger, he found that he was staring at him in shock with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

Evan didn’t realise why until he noticed the dog’s leash and collar were now a vibrant red instead of the dark grey they were a moment before, and suddenly he was just as surprised. But while Evan could feel excitement bubbling in his chest, his new soulmate’s heart seemed to be splitting in two as an expression of pain and hurt crossed his face, his eyes locked on to the hand that Evan was now firmly grasping.

“Oh fuck no,” he mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief and stumbling back as if he were about to run away, heartbroken and convinced that he had already lost his soulmate to someone else, because even though Evan and Brock understood that they were polyamorous, the stranger had no idea and thought that Evan was destined for someone other than him.

“No! Wait! No!” Evan called out in a panic and reached for his wrist before he had a chance to sprint off, and judging by the look in his eyes, there was nothing he wanted to do more. “It’s okay! I can explain!” he insisted, glancing between him and a confused Brock, before letting out a tired sigh, shaking his head with a small smile. “I think we all need to talk. Coffee?”

* * *

It took some convincing to bring him around to the idea of having multiple soulmates, and Evan was glad that Brock was with him to excitedly point out all of the pink things he could suddenly see, or otherwise he might not have believed him.

After that, Evan learned his name was Tyler, and learned that if Brock was the rose petals, then Tyler was the thorns.

Tyler was sharp and brash and loud, and everything that the colour red embodied, with a personality as fiery as chili peppers and hot spices. Red was the colour of danger and recklessness, but with it brought the feeling of safety associated with fire trucks and stop signs and stop lights, a feeling Tyler’s presence never failed to bring him. Tyler was strawberries, and lipstick stains, and lips that had been kissed a little too much (if there was such a thing, Evan wasn’t entirely convinced), and the jacket Brock had bought him that both of his boyfriends now favoured solely for its colour.

Red was the colour of blood, he found out when he cut himself with a knife while cooking one day, and the colour of the plus on the side of the first aid kit that Tyler would bring him, and the colour of the band aid he’d wrap around his finger while chastising him for not being more careful. Red was coursing through his veins with every heartbeat, keeping him _alive,_  and tinging the tips of Tyler’s ears and nose when he was out in the cold too long, and flushing his cheeks after they made out until they were breathless.

Red and pink were similar in colour, but the boys he associated with them couldn’t have been more different. Brock was calm and soft and reassuring, like a gentle kiss to the forehead, while Tyler was passion and boldness and intensity, like a kiss that was more hands and tongue than lips.

The differences between them didn’t make him love either of them any less, and if anything, it only made him love them _more_ , and Evan was glad that he had two hands so he could hold them both at the same time.

But once again, the rest of the colours failed to swarm into his world, which could only mean that another soulmate was on their way. Evan didn’t mind though. Even if it would be difficult adding yet another person to the mix, he was still more than willing to welcome another future love into his life with open arms. Their bed was already more limbs than pillows at this point, especially with Kino squeezed in too, but the universe lived by the motto ‘the more the merrier’, and so Evan could only wait with bated breath to see who fate brought to him next.

* * *

Orange came in the form of a bewildered tourist that Tyler had kidnapped off the street.

It was one of the rare times that the three of them didn’t travel as a pack, and Tyler had slipped out to buy some popcorn at the convenience store across the street while Evan and Brock curled up together on their couch, and waited for his return. The movie was already queued up on Netflix waiting to be played, and Evan was absentmindedly playing on his phone when their front door was suddenly thrown open.

Tyler rushed in with a cheek splitting grin, but instead of returning with the box of microwave popcorn they had sent him out to get, he was clutching onto the hand of a man who looked as confused about why he was here as they were. Tyler waved their intertwined hands proudly, like a dog dropping the tennis ball he’d fetched at their feet, and was looking between the three of them as if he was expecting a pat on the back.

Evan looked to Brock who looked back at him and shrugged, not understanding what was going on either, before turning back to Tyler. “Um… who’s this?” Evan asked, realising that Tyler wasn’t going to offer that information to them without a prompt.

“Craig,” he stated, as if that one name would answer all of their questions.

Evan shared another look with Brock, slowly growing exasperated. “And who’s Craig?” he pressed further, hoping that question wasn’t as rude as he felt it was.

The grin on Tyler’s face slowly morphed into a smirk, and it was clear that that was the one question he was waiting to be asked. “Soulmate,” he said simply, voice softening, and gently squeezed Craig’s hand, looking down at him as if he were his very heart.

That one word was all Evan needed to hear, and both him and Brock were furiously searching their living room for the next colour to add to their growing collection, and he never thought he’d be this glad to see their fruit bowl filled with oranges sitting on his coffee table in all his life.

Craig was still confused as to why he was dragged up to their apartment, and his confusion only grew when the pair on the couch hopped up and rushed towards him, and he suddenly found himself in the centre of a tight group hug. “Tyler?” he asked meekly, shuffling closer to the only man he knew was his soulmate, searching for the hand he’d dropped in the sudden embrace. “Who are these people?”

“Do you know what polyamory is, Craig?” Tyler asked, taking the hand he could feel looking for his and giving it a reassuring squeeze, burying his face in his hair.

“…Should I?” he asked, but Tyler merely hummed in response.

“You will soon enough.”

* * *

After a quick explanation of their situation, Craig joined them on their movie night, easily fitting among them on the couch, and all Evan’s worries about their relationship getting more difficult were for naught.

Craig’s warm presence was more than welcome in their mesh of personalities, his raucous laughter making them smile just as much as Brock’s always did. Craig was a bundle of joy wrapped in snark and a loud voice, and Evan struggled to think of someone who fit the colour orange as much as he did.

He was as sharp as the first taste of a glass of orange juice first thing in the morning, and glowed as brightly as the LEDs on alarm clocks and car radios in the dark. He was the sunrise they woke up to in the morning, and the sunset that put them to the bed in the evening; the streetlights that guided their way back in the dead of night, and the fire that burned in the hearth that signaled they were home.

Skype notifications were orange, as were carrots and pumpkins and Autumn leaves that crunched under their feet as they ran through the park after a dog they could never keep up with. His laughter was contagious and spread like a forest fire in the summer heat, and sometimes Evan would pounce on him like a tiger and tickle him just so he could hear it again.

Their love for Craig burned as bright as the sun, and he loved them with an intensity that matched Tyler’s, his heart pinned to his sleeve just like how Brock wore his, but Craig came with a problem that wasn’t easily solved. Craig wasn’t American, and sheer love alone wasn’t going to keep him in the country.

He needed a soulmate visa, and a soulmate visa required a marriage license in order to be considered valid, but they were two people too many to properly acquire one of those. Craig living with them illegally wasn’t a realistic solution, but they refused to let him get deported, and so after much discussion, they came to the decision that Tyler would marry him so he wouldn’t have to leave. A group marriage between the four of them in which two pairs were legally committed would have been preferable, but their rainbow remained only partially filled in, and so Evan and Brock didn’t marry in the off chance they needed to apply for another soulmate visa in the future.

It was far from ideal, but the excitement of sauntering to the town hall and watching two of his best friends and loves get married was enough to wave off any disappointment for the time being, and he could only hope that maybe one day the laws would change and he and Brock could join them.

* * *

Yellow found them first, spotting them from across the street while they stepped into a restaurant unaware, oblivious that another was about to dash into their lives.

It was date night, something that happened less and less often now that they had four people to coordinate free nights with, but their scarcity only made the few times they were able to go out together all that more special. The new restaurant that had opened up down the street was their location of choice that evening, and then to the bar a few blocks away if they were up for it afterwards, but they didn’t plan for their group of four to expand into five before they could even pay the bill.

They could hear some sort of commotion going on by the door, but they were sat far enough away that while they could hear the distant pleading of a desperate soul to the maitre’d begging to be let in without a reservation, they couldn’t make out the words. That didn’t stop both him and Brock from staring though, waiting to see if the culprit of the noise would round the corner and enter their line of sight, while Tyler and Craig bickered over how to split the bill, as they always did.

After a while, they could hear a loud “Fuck this!” and a figure ducked into view. A man around their age with dark skin stood up, very underdressed for a fancy restaurant and looked as if he had stumbled out of the gym across the street, and he frisked the room, seemingly searching for someone in particular. When his gaze fell on Evan’s table, his face lit up and he bounded over to them, slamming both hands on their table and studying each of their faces in turn, and it wasn’t until then that Tyler and Craig finally realised that something was going on.

“Okay, this might seem crazy, and maybe I’m completely fucking wrong because I can’t tell which one of you it’s supposed to be, but I think- _I think_ … one of you might be my soulmate,” he told them, voice hopeful, still glancing between each of them and waiting in anticipation for one of them to tell him the words he so desperately wanted to hear.

The leftover fries on Brock’s plate glowed yellow (a colour whose name he wouldn’t learn until much later), as did the candle in the centrepiece and sconces on the wall, something his boyfriends all noticed as well judging by the knowing looks they were sharing around the table. Brock laughed to himself, likely at the thought of having another polyamory talk with another unsuspecting soulmate, and Evan had to laugh with him. They were going to be experts on the subject by the time they had found everyone they were meant to be with.

“Come here, and sit down,” Tyler said with a grin, waving him over and nudging Craig further into their booth so he could offer his own seat to him. “I think we’ve got some explaining to do.”

“Please don’t tell me I’m wrong,” he groaned worriedly, but still slid into the booth next to Tyler, eyes drifting from his arm that was loosely draped around Craig’s shoulder, to the wedding ring glinting on his finger.

“Nah, you’re not wrong. You just…” Tyler trailed off, struggling to find the words to explain it, but luckily Brock was able to pick up where he left off and finish his sentence with a soft reassuring smile.

“You just got more soulmates than what you bargained for.”

* * *

They traded names, learning his was Marcel, and by the time they were finished drinking at the bar, they could no longer be considered strangers.

Yellow was an odd fit, as Evan would have perceived the colour as being much softer than Marcel typically behaved, but it still seemed to fit him nonetheless. Yellow was a colour that glowed bright like the sun, casting light onto everything beneath it, just like Marcel’s wide smile. Heads turned to him when he laughed like sunflowers to the sun, bright and bold and demanding the attention he so rightly deserved.

Marcel was fun to be around like rubber ducks and balloons, but sharp like the first bite of a bitter lemon, and loud and angry like the horn of a taxi been pressed down for too long. He was smooth like butter, and looked out for them in much the same way that warning labels tended to, pointing out slippery-when-wet floors and high voltage fences, and wrapped himself around them protectively like raincoats and reflective jackets.

Yellow was the colour of the bananas and cheese and chips and lemonade they packed tightly into the picnic basket they took to the park, and the colour of the tennis ball they’d toss for Kino to fetch. It was the colour of the cornfield Evan and Marcel got lost in together when they went to the fair, and the colour of the buttery popcorn they had used as breadcrumbs to help them find their way back out. It was the colour of the golden rings they wore on their fingers to symbolise their relationship (even if Tyler and Craig were the only ones _technically_  married, Marcel had suggested they all wear them anyway, because even if they weren’t legally recognised as married, it didn’t mean they couldn’t think of themselves as such).

Marcel’s puns were popular with Brock, and his dry as a desert wit was welcomed by Craig, and both Evan and Tyler were glad that they had another set of competent hands to help them keep the other two safe. Marcel slotted in like a coin into a slot machine, and was a golden treasure they cherished deeply.

Their little family was expanding rapidly, and Evan didn’t know his heart was capable of holding so much love for so many different people, but he wouldn’t change that for the world.

But no matter how much he loved the stability that Marcel brought them, it wouldn’t last long as another two soulmates would soon be thrust into their lives.

* * *

Green and brown came together, hand in hand, and as nonchalant as a casual hello.

It was one of the few times that Evan was out of their apartment on his own, out jogging through the park to keep in shape and to get some much needed time to himself. With five men squeezed into the one tiny apartment, alone time was rare and even though he loved his boyfriends more than air itself, sometimes he needed to drag himself away from the daily chaos to enjoy the peace and quiet that had become something of a myth to him. Running was therapeutic and calming, and helped clear his head and gave him time to think.

Memories of the night before were always what was on his mind as he ran, always thinking back to how they were squeezed tightly into the couch that was not made for five men. Even with Craig on Marcel’s lap and Brock on Tyler’s, it was still a tight fit that had them cuddled close under the one blanket they had nicked from the bedroom, a snug warmth enveloping them and making it impossible to move as no one wanted to leave the cosy cocoon they had created for themselves.

Even if quiet moments were few and far between, the constant stream of chatter and anarchy was worth putting up with for moments like those, and that was the thought that was on his mind when he nearly collided with a couple walking in the opposite direction as him. He mumbled a quiet apology to them and they muttered one back, and when he turned back around to continue his run, he was punched in the face by a sudden burst of colour that had him stopping dead in his tracks.

It was as if a volcano had suddenly erupted, and spewed streams of green and brown all around him. The grass was bright and vibrant and filled his entire field of vision with an emerald green, and the very dirt path he was running on was now a mish mash of different shades of brown speckled with grey. The sky was still as colourless as ever, but that didn’t matter, not when he could see the leaves and bark on the trees, the stems of flowers, and the fur of a nearby dog chasing a wooden stick. He could see skin tone, and Evan had never been so fascinated with his own hands before, and desperately wanted to find a mirror so he could see himself properly.

But there were more pressing matters to attend to than finding a reflective surface to admire his face in, and he slowly turned around to glance back at the couple he had just passed. They were already staring at him in surprise when he finally met their eyes (they were brown! he could see eye colour now!), and before he could say anything, the smaller of the pair was running towards and tackling him into a hug, grinning brightly.

The taller chuckled. “Calm yourself Lui, let the nice man breathe,” he told him, Irish accent dripping off his tongue as he spoke, watching them both with the softest of smiles. In spite of his words, he couldn’t help but approach them anyway and wrapped his long limbs around them both, sandwiching Lui between them, and Evan had to laugh at how ridiculous they must have looked. “I’m Nogla, by the way, and this is Lui. I know he looks like it because he’s so short, but he’s not actually a kid. He’s just bite sized.” That comment earned Nogla a sharp elbow to the chest, and Evan couldn’t help but laugh again. He didn’t need to bring the pair home to know that they would fit right in.

“I’m Evan,” he introduced himself, returning their soft smile and snaking his own arms around them. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

* * *

As he suspected, Lui and Nogla were a welcome addition to their relationship, and they were barely fifteen minutes in the door before they were dragged back to the park where they met so the others could see the same green expanse Evan had praised so much.

It took some time for him to figure out which colour belonged to which boyfriend as he’d discovered them both at the same time, but in the end, determined that brown belonged to Lui, and green to Nogla.

Green was a calming colour, and the colour of freshness and stability - one that suited Nogla’s easygoing personality to a T, while brown was warm and grounded, and embodied Lui’s more realistic nature than Nogla’s tendency to daydream. Their colours always seemed to come hand in hand, both being symbols of nature and the outdoors and the breath of fresh air that could calm him, the colours themselves almost as inseparable as the people that personified them.

Nogla was green, all calm and reassuring and understanding, like a gentle breeze blowing through leaves and over blades of grass, gently swaying flowers and other plants back and forth in its grasp. He was a gentle giant with all of the strength and support of a stem, keeping them upright and stopping them from falling like a trellis would for ivy. He was good for them, like salads and brussel sprouts, with all the sweetness of apples, and softness of moss.

Nogla was the shamrocks and clovers they plucked from the earth when they lay on the grass to watch the clouds drift by, and the sharp sting of nettles when he snapped at them the times that their teasing went too far and they pressed all the right buttons. He was the frog they spent two hours trying to catch just to see if they could (they couldn’t), and the cactus they’d bought in a store just because it was shaped like a dick.

Nogla was a saint without the patience of one, while Lui had the patience but was far from a saint.

It was rare to see Lui without that cheeky monkey’s grin, and Tyler would always joke that brown could only be his colour because he was such a little shit. His jokes and light teasing would raise their spirits like a sparrow taking off, and he had the same effect on them as a few giddy beers too many, but his honesty would keep them grounded like tree roots planted deep into earthly soil. He was warm like tea and gave them energy like coffee, while being as sweet as chocolate with all of the intimidation of a teddy bear (though he would argue otherwise).

Lui was the brownies they’d helped Brock bake one lazy Saturday afternoon, and the pine cones and conkers they tossed at each other in a spontaneous war in the park. He was the tough leather collar they had bought for Kino with the address of their new house on it as they’d long since grown out of their apartment, and the sturdy wooden desks they’d stayed up until midnight trying to assemble, before giving up to play video games instead.

Together, they were kiwis with a tough brown outer shell and the soft green insides, the oak tree with a supportive trunk and leaves that shaded them from harsh sunlight.

Together they brought with them green and brown, two colours that made Evan feel more human, and more _alive_.

Now that he could see brown, Evan could see the soft skin of all his boyfriends, and the soft fluffy hair he had spent so much time raking his hands through. He now knew that both Marcel and Craig had hazel eyes that could warm his heart in much the same way that Lui’s and Nogla’s already did. Their grey bodies were flushed with colour, giving them life and warmth, and making them seem all that more real, and making Evan crave to touch them all that much more.

Now that he could see brown, Evan could see himself in all of his coloured glory, and he doubted that he’d ever get used to his new reflection. Lui brought him the colour of his skin and his eyes, while Tyler flushed his cheeks with red and Brock had painted his lips a soft pink. His hair was as black as always and he suspected that’s how it was supposed to be, but even so, his soulmates’ colours made him look so alive and so human.

His soulmates’ colours made him _feel_  so alive and so human.

Tyler was the blood coursing through his veins and pumping his heart, while Lui was the skin that encased it. Nogla was the green that breathed life into the landscape around him, while Marcel was the sun that lit up his world with bright rays of light. Craig was the heat from the flames in their fireplace that kept them warm through chilly nights, and Brock was the heart in the centre of it all.

Together, they were his life, his soul, and in the moment he stared at his reflection, his _actual_  reflection for the first time, poking and prodding at his cheeks and marveling at how much of the world his eyes held, Evan realised that if he died right then and there, then he would die happy and fulfilled.

It was almost a pity that he’d grow to immediately regret that thought the second blue wormed its way into his life.

* * *

Blue ebbed and flowed into their lives like a wave crawling up the beach.

Evan had known of Delirious for a while, but he had never spoken to him personally, much less saw him face to face. He was much like them, in that he’d frequently upload videos of himself playing games to YouTube, mostly with his unofficially adopted brother, and his videos were usually playing on a laptop or an iPad somewhere in their house. Nogla was a fan of his, as was Marcel, and Lui tended to watch with them if only because he liked being cuddled in between two of his favourite people, and between the three of them, Delirious’ voice was constantly echoing into the living room and through the surrounding halls. Evan didn’t mind though, as there was something about his voice and boisterous laughter that made him feel light and always put him in a good mood, and so he had no problems with his youtube videos filling the dead silence in their home.

The last thing Evan expected to find when he checked his business email was a message from one H2ODelirious asking if he wanted to play some games with him some time. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, far from it, it just surprised him by _how much_  he wanted to. Evan hadn’t felt this drawn to a stranger since Brock, and considering the reason _why_  he was so drawn to him, he was beginning to wonder if he felt a pull towards Delirious for the same reason.

He couldn’t tell the guys about this, as much as he wanted to. He couldn’t get their hopes up about the possibility that he’d found another soulmate, not when there was still a chance that he could be wrong, and they’d be disappointed. Evan would never forgive himself for getting them excited only to have their spirits come crashing down again because he’d made a mistake. So when he responded to Delirious’ email and arranged for them to talk on Skype later than night, he kept their appointment to himself.

The wait for him to accept his contact request felt like he was waiting to speak to Brock for the first time all over again as the familiar feelings of excitement and apprehension swarmed him. Evan drummed his fingers against the kitchen table impatiently, eyes locked on the conversation window, waiting for a specific notification to pop up on his laptop screen, and cursing to himself when Skype alerted him to different conversations instead of the one he wanted. It was frustrating, and the wait was agonizing, and it certainly didn’t help that Delirious was _late_.

It was almost twenty minutes after their agreed meet up time that he finally was responded to, and it was another five minutes after that before they were finally in a voice call.

“Hey,” Evan greeted softly, grin tugging at his lips.

“Holy shit!” Delirious greeted much less softly, voice filled with surprise and shock, and Evan could hear the sound of him pushing his chair away from his desk, the legs scraping against the wooden floor.

It didn’t take much thinking for him to realise why, as the sound of Delirious’ voice caused his whole Skype window to light up a pale blue, and Evan felt relief wash over him. So he wasn’t wrong then. “Ahh,” Evan hummed, chuckling lightly and relaxing back into his seat. “I guess we’re going to be doing a lot more together than playing games then.”

A quiet moment passed before Delirious spoke again. “Holy _fuck_ ,” he blurted out, and Evan was again dropped into a fit of laughter.

* * *

Originally, Evan wanted Delirious to be a surprise. He wanted to drag him home and introduce him to the group in much the same way that Tyler did with Craig, but Delirious was excited and antsy and had the patience of a five year old, and once he had gotten in contact with Marcel, the others all knew within minutes.

Within a month, his laughter was echoing through their halls once again, but this time it wasn’t through a laptop.

Delirious was loud and brash with more grins than sense, and was near impossible to anger. He was happy-go-lucky and a complete clown that never failed to make them laugh. Evan couldn’t understand why blue had such sad connotations when he so heavily associated it with one of the most bubbly and upbeat people he knew, but he waved off those interpretations, much preferring his own.

Blue was bright and fun like the afternoon sky speckled with clouds, and like the wallpaper in kids’ rooms and nurseries. It was the colour of social media, like twitter and tumblr and skype, and brought people together and united them, giving them a platform to talk and have fun. Blue was excitable like a blue jay pecking at breadcrumbs, and so lovable and likeable that it melted cold hearts like ice on a warm summer’s day.

Delirious was all the fun of a swimming pool, and the strong taste of chlorine that stuck with you long after you left. He was sparkly blue eyes and first place rosettes, and the blueberries baked into muffins. He had a heart as open and wide as a lake, and having him around was like being struck by a hurricane and a tidal wave all at once, but Evan still loved him with all the depth of an ocean.

Delirious was the ice pops they bought at the beach that stained their tongues blue, and the hoodie gifted to him from Luke that he never left home without, even though it was one size too big. He was the jeans that were stained with paint from when they redecorated their living room, and the sugared icing from the brightly coloured cupcakes Brock had baked for them that covered his nose and his cheeks after Evan had smooshed one into his face.

Delirious blew into their lives with all of the chaos of a whirlwind, but Evan wouldn’t have it any other way. With his addition, their rainbow was almost complete, and his world almost all coloured in, and Evan couldn’t help but buzz in excitement at the thought that he’d soon have all of his soulmates together under one roof.

* * *

Purple didn’t come until months later, and kept them waiting for far too long.

They were all getting antsy and impatient, itching to meet who they guessed was their final soulmate so they could all be together at last. Their family was so close to being complete, _so close_ , and it was almost frustrating to know that they were out there somewhere, waiting to be found, but none of them ever seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Evan understood that the universe had a plan for them, and understood that he wasn’t going to meet them until the time was right, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t wish that time would come sooner rather than later.

It certainly didn’t help that Nogla and Craig had flown back to Ireland and Northern Ireland together to spend time with family, so rather than gaining a soulmate like he’d been hoping, he’d been losing them instead. Of course, Nogla and Craig wouldn’t be gone forever and would be back before they knew it (something they all reassured each other while saying tearful goodbyes at the airport), but he still missed them terribly. Their absence only reaffirmed how much he loved them and how much they meant to him, and it killed him to know that there was still someone else out there who he didn’t yet have that meaningful bond with.

Their absence was taking a toll on him, and it only made him wish that all of his soulmates were in his life, and he wouldn’t be forced to wait to meet them any longer.

Evan had been spending a lot of time wallowing in his own personal depression as of late, but he was able to take some solace in the knowledge that he wasn’t the only one feeling like this. Lui was taking his separation from Nogla pretty hard as he’d never been apart from him since they married the year before, long before Evan had met either of them and some time before he had even met Brock, and even though he loved all of his boyfriends equally, Lui still had trouble adjusting to his absence.

During that week they were gone, Lui was practically glued to his side, but Evan didn’t mind as he needed the company, and they both needed the other’s support. Many hours were spent cuddling on the couch, and they were typically joined by a combination of their other boyfriends who were missing them just as much, but Lui was his one constant for which he was grateful. He didn’t particularly want to be alone, so his constant company was always more than welcomed.

They were lying together on the couch as per usual, Lui nestled on his chest, when Nogla and Craig came home a few days early to surprise them. The second the front door opened to reveal they were home, Craig was running in to attach himself to the nearest body who just so happened to be Marcel, who wasted no time in clinging back, and it wasn’t long after that until Delirious was forcing his way into the hug as well. Lui perked up, climbing off of him to meet Nogla who had just enough time to step inside before a pair of arms were wrapped tightly around him.

But in spite of his obvious excitement at being reunited with Nogla, Lui’s gaze was focused on something behind him, and his eyes widened in surprise. “Oh,” he said simply, and Nogla chuckled as he gently nudged him further inside.

“We brought you all back a souvenir,” Nogla chimed, looking back out the door with a fond smile, one matched by Craig, and waved for someone to step inside. “Come on in, Brian.”

The name caught Evan’s attention, and he watched all too closely as a stranger stepped in with a sheepish grin, clearly nervous and worried about what they’d all think of him, but all Evan could take notice of was how his shirt lit up a deep purple. The wall hanging of a rainbow that was draped by the front door was suddenly filled with colour, no longer missing a strip, and Evan’s heart stopped when it hit him as to what that meant.

Brian was their soulmate, their _final_  soulmate, and his family was finally complete. After ten months of trying to slowly assemble them all together, Evan finally had all his loves under one roof, and the mere thought was causing him to be overwhelmed with emotion.

He barely registered himself standing up and crossing the room as he made a beeline towards him like a man on a mission, and instantly wrapped Brian up into a hug, pulling him tight against his chest. Brian was tense in his arms, unsure how to react, and Evan gave him a gentle squeeze to reassure him that everything was okay. “Welcome home,” he mumbled into his neck, and those two words of acceptance were enough to cause him to buckle with emotion and Brian was hugging him just as tightly back.

The next thing Evan knew, Lui and Nogla were joining them, and were immediately followed by Craig, Marcel, and Delirious. Brock and Tyler popped their heads in from the other room to see what was going on, and once it clicked, they weren’t long in nudging their way into the group hug as well.

Evan’s cheeks were hurting from grinning so widely, heart swelling and feeling happier than he’d felt in a long time, all because he was squeezed in the middle of _all_  of his soulmates. He finally had everyone he was destined to be with, everyone he was destined to fall in love with, within arms reach and he was beyond ecstatic.

Now that Brian had joined them at last, their life together as one big happy relationship could finally begin.

* * *

Brian was like the last piece of a complicated jigsaw. Without him, their relationship was unfinished, was missing a vital piece, and now that he had been thrust into their lives, it felt like they were finally complete.

Purple wasn’t a colour that Evan came across too often, but it was just as important to him as the others were. Purple was the colour of wealth and luxury, perfectly embodying how Evan felt now that Brian was here and he had all his soulmates in one place. He was rich with love, and every day was given more adoration than he ever expected he’d have, and thinking back to his monochrome world before he’d met even Brock, back when he still had the slightest of doubts that he’d meet anyone at all, made him realise just how lucky he was.

And because he’d associated that feeling so heavily with purple, which in turn he associated with Brian, he eventually skipped the middle step completely and every time he looked at Brian, he was overwhelmed with joy and so filled with love that he ended up falling for him much faster than anyone else.

Brian was as suave and smooth as velvet and filled to the brim with confidence, something Evan appreciated if only because it helped boost the self esteem of their more modest boyfriends like Brock, who he’d married a few weeks before so he could apply for his soulmate visa. He had a knack for doing voices, perfectly mimicking any character they threw at him, whether it be Waluigi or Big the Cat, and had a smile that lit up like neon signs outside of a nightclub.

He was the colour of the sky at twilight when the stars were just starting to twinkle, and elegant jellyfish that danced through the sea. He was the coloured foil wrapped around the chocolates he gifted Evan with for his birthday, and the lavender candles that were lit in their living room on romantic nights in. He was the hickeys that were splattered on necks and drifted down to collar bones, the loving bruises found between thighs, and he was the Professor Plum in their own version of Clue that they’d play the mornings after to try and figure out who gave whom a love bite, and where (with multiple people in bed all at once, these things tended to be difficult to keep track of).

Brian filled the empty space left in his heart, and now that he was here, Evan had never felt more complete.

His previously grayscale world was gone, a distant recollection from a year ago, and was being rapidly replaced with a spectrum of new memories and thoughts. One by one, each boyfriend that came into his life slowly painted his dull environment as if it were a colouring book, painting all the numbers until his surroundings were rich with bright vibrant colours, and the dismal grey was drained away.

Brock gifted him with soft pinks that sweetened him, and Tyler bold reds that demanded the attention his loves so sincerely deserved. Mini’s oranges brought warmth, and Marcel’s yellows brought light, and together they created the fire that burned deep in his soul and the flames that smoldered in his heart. Nogla’s greens were calming and reassuring and almost healing in nature, while Lui’s browns grounded him and stopped him from floating into the sky on sheer happiness alone. Delirious’ blues crashed into him like waves, bringing fun and excitement and chaos, and Brian’s purples were as rich as his heart was with all the love Evan held for each and every one of them.

In many ways, they were his world, and he could see them every time he looked out a window at his technicolour environment, whether they were gone overseas or cuddled together on mattresses behind him. He saw them every time the sun came out after a shower, and a rainbow stretched all the way across the sky, a spectrum that instilled love and hope in anyone who laid their eyes on it.

If you had have asked him a year ago what he thought about rainbows, Evan would have told you that he simply didn’t care. Now, it was difficult for him to think of anything else that he appreciated _more_ , for no other reason than because it embodied and represented everyone he held near and dear to his heart.

Evan had eleven soulmates, ten soulmates more than what was considered conventional, but he wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old fic that I finished and posted on tumblr just under a year ago for a secret santa event on tumblr, so if this seems familiar to you, then that's probably why :P I just wanted to post it here as well (even if it's a year late) ♥
> 
> New fics coming soon, but for now, enjoy this old one <3


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